Date of Graduation
1997
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
School reform efforts have focused on shifting the emphasis of classroom activities from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach. Reformists have identified the critical components of these efforts: (1) environments which allow students to engage with content; (2) activities which allow students to think critically and solve problems; (3) assessment techniques which allow students to demonstrate what they have learned; and (4) the use of appropriate technology tools to support the other components. This dissertation focuses on the incorporation of these components through students' construction of hypermedia projects. It consists of three separate studies which provide in-depth analyses of the effects on students as they develop hypermedia. The first study discusses the theoretical constructs guiding the use of hypermedia authoring tools as a means of increasing students' cognitive and problem-solving skills. The second study examines the effects of hypermedia development on high school students' knowledge acquisition, general problem-solving skills, and general design skills. The results of study two indicated that the students increased both their declarative and procedural knowledge and could use the knowledge in more complex ways at the end of the treatment. In addition, the students' general problem-solving skills increased from pre-treatment to post-treatment. Finally, the students' general design skills emulated a cognitive framework. The third study examines the effects of hypermedia development on three of the high school students' specific problem-solving processes. The results of study three indicated that the students took different approaches to solving problems as they developed hypermedia projects. The three descriptors that were generated to describe the students' problem-solving processes were Mechanical, Deliberate, and Connective. In summary, this dissertation uses a variety of measures to provide an in-depth examination of the cognitive and problem-solving skills and processes that are involved as students develop their own hypermedia projects.
Recommended Citation
Oughton, John Mason, "The effect of hypermedia development on high school students' knowledge acquisition and problem-solving." (1997). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9543.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9543